US3367283A - Railway axle positioning device - Google Patents

Description

1968 P. LADOUES ETAL 3,367,233

RAILWAY AXLE POSITIONING DEVICE Filed Aug. 23, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Pierre Laudes Henr/ Lacosfe-Tuzan ATTORNEYS Feb. 6, 1968 P. LADOUES ETAL 3,367,283

RAILWAY AXLE POSITIONING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1965 INVENTORS Pierre Lauoes Henri Lacosfe- Tuzan BY X9 m Cal- 4 yaw/MM ATTORNEYS Feb. 6, 1968 R LADOUES ETAL 3,367,283

RAILWAY AXLE POSITI ONING DEVICE INVENTORS Pierre Louaes Henri Lacosfe- Tuzan WMMfM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,367,283 RAILWAY AXLE POSITIONING DEVICE Pierre Ladones, 183 Rue Saint Genes (Gironde), Bordeaux,

and Henri Lacoste-Tuzan, Prechac-sur-Adour (Gers),

France Filed Aug. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 481,592 Claims priority, application France, Nov 4, 1960, 843,083, Patent 1,278,741 3 Claims. (Cl. 10432) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for positioning the axles of wheels of a railway vehicle in a vertical plane through the center of a a reprofiling bench. The device includes retractable track means, forming an extension of the conventional tracks, and pairs of roller means mounted on a horizontal axis symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane through the center of vertically movable receiving means to receive one of the wheels of the axle between each pair of rollers. The receiving means are vertically moved to contact and rotate the wheel thus causing the axis of the axle to move to a position coincident with the vertical axis of the symmetry of the slide means.

The profiles of railway wheels become deformed during normal operation, and it is necessary to reform them when certain limits are reached.

It is frequently advantageous to carry out the necessary reforming operations on a special machine which is known as a bench for reprofiling in position, which enables the work to be carried out without having to remove the axles from the vehicle.

The present invention has as an object to provide a device permitting the correct placing into position of an axle unit, comprising an axle and pair of wheels attached thereto, on a reprofiling bench while centering it with perfect accuracy.

The device comprises essentially two vertically movable wheel support means formed at two extremities of a frame. Each wheel support is equipped with two rollers, the horizontal axes of which are strictly symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane through the center of the wheel support and the reprofiling bench. The rollers are mechanically driven and tangentially drive the wheels of the axle when they are brought into contact therewith. The device, according to the invention, operates in the following manner: The axle unit to be re formed is brought to the work station by moving the unit of rolling stock on which it is incorporated. The arrangements of track on the reprofiling bench are such that the flange portions of the wheels roll onto the rolling table of retractable rails. The retractable rails preferably have a special profile design to insure the guiding of the wheel by their internal faces. The wheel tires are thus sufficiently freed for the axle unit to be lifted by the rollers on the wheel support members. The rollers support the wheels on their rolling contact surface or tire.

The axle unit is first brought between and above the rollers, without being precisely located relative to their plane of symmetry, and with any angular position with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tracks. The rollers are started into rotation, in one direction or the other, depending upon the position of the axle with respect to the vertical plane of symmetry. The wheel support members are raised until the rollers come into contact with the wheels. As soon as a roller makes contact with a tire of the wheels, the latter begins to rotate thereby 3,367,283 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 "ice causing the movement of the axle unit to its final posiion. Clearly, the direction of rotation of the rollers is independent of the placement of the axle between the pairs of rollers. Whatever the initial position of the axle, relative to the plane of symmetry, it will be repositioned as the rollers begin to rotate the wheel in either direction. The effect of rotating the rollers will be to provide a drive surface which will cause the wheel to be moved to the desired position between the rollers. All four rollers must be driven in the same direction, but the direction itself is of little consequence.

When the tires of the two wheels are in contact with the four rollers, the vertical plane passing through the axis of the axle is coincident with the plane of symmetry of the rollers.

The axle unit is finally brought to the desired height by raising the roller carrying wheel support members.

The invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings dealing with a basic embodiment of the present invention in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of the device with the axle unit roughly positioned;

FIG. 1a is a cross section through line 1A1A of FIG. 1 illustrating a wheel on a retractable rail;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of the device at the time of the first contact between the roller and the wheel;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the device after the rollers and slider have elevated the wheel;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an axial cross section of a wheel support member showing the roller drive means; and

FIG. 8 is a cross section of a reprofiling bench equipped with the invention.

Referring generally to FIGS. 1 to 6 and FIGS. 1 and 2 particularly, a device according to the invention comprises two parallel spaced wheel support members 5, each carrying two parallel, spaced rollers 4 having horizontal axes symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane X taken through the center of the wheel support members 5. The wheels 1 of the axle unit 8 are brought in the direction of the arrow F from the normal I-shaped track 2 to the retractable rails 3, which are located above and inwardly of the initial position of the rollers 4. The position of the axis Y of the axle on the rails 3 is initially located in any position above and between the rollers 4.

The rack 3 is preferably an L-shaped member, as shown in FIG. 1A, with riser portion 3a being a guide and the lateral extension 3b being the load support portion. The retracting means has been illustrated as double-acting, double-piston hydraulic cylinders 6. Of course, any suitable means can be used to retract the rails 3.

After the initial positioning (and referring to FIGS. 3 and 4), the wheel support members 5 are moved upwardly adjacent to and externally of rails 3 by means of hydraulic rams 7 or other elevating mechanisms. The rollers 4 will come into contact with the wheels at which time they are driven into rotation in the appropriate direction so as to rotate the wheel 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow F The axis Y of the axle 8 will be moved so as to take up a position parallel to the plane X. When rollers 4 have been raised sufficiently so that each roller contacts the wheel, then the axis Y and plane X will be coincident (as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6). Retracting means 6 will be actuated to move rails 3 out of the way of the machining operation.

A reprofiling bench, according to the invention is shown in FIG. 7. The bench comprises two wheel support means 101 and 102 which are moved vertically with respect to the reprofiling bench bases 103 and 104 which are secured to the foundation 100 of the reprofiling bench. Each of the wheel support members is provided with rollers 105 and 106 respectively. A wheel unit 107 with axle 107"is shown in driving position on the rollers. The retractable rails 108 and 109 are shown in the retracted position with the double-acting, double-piston hydraulic cylinder 110 between them.

Each wheel support member 101 and 102 can be raised vertically by means of hydraulic jacks 111 and 112. Any lifting means capable of supplying the necessary force may be utilized. The adjustment in height of the axis of the axle to be machined can be effected: either by actuating the jacks of each slide separately and checking against vertical scales, (not shown), which may be fixed on the bases 103 and 104; or by actuating all the jacks simultaneously to a position representing a predetermined end of travel. The axle will be clamped between the tail stocks 113 and 114 for the machining operation.

The vertical plane of symmetry of the rollers is defined geometrically with respect to the constituent elements of the reprofiling bench so that: the cutting edges of the tools are located in this plane; the axis of the centers provided on the tail stocks 113 and 114 are also in this plane when the turning is effected between centers.

The rollers are rotatably driven from driving shafts by means of a mechanical coupling which is shown in FIG. 8. The driving means has been shown schematically in FIG. 8 as motor 116. The motor 116 has a driven pinion 117 which drives gear 118 thereby driving shaft 119 having gear 120 mounted thereon. A pair of sprocket gears 115 are fixedly attached on one end of each shaft 115a. The rollers 105 are fixedly attached to the other end of these shafts. A link chain belt 121 mechanically connects gear 120 with sprocket gears 115 and provides the means to transmit the driving motion of the motor to the rollers. In machining, the rollers can be employed only as carrier rollers if the turning of the wheel is effected by driving the axle unit from the independent driving equipment of the railway unit.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for positioning the axle wheel units of a railway vehicle on a vertical plane through the center of a reprofiling bench comprising track means leading to said reprofiling bench, a termination point on said track means, retractable track means disposed adjacent to the termination point and in alignment therewith, said retractable track means comprising an L-shaped mem ber, wheel guide means formed by the vertical extension of said L-shaped member, wheel support means formed by the horizontal extension of said L-shaped member,

said retractable track means being positioned so that said wheel support means receives only the flange portion of said railway vehicle wheel, means to retract said retractable track means, receiving means mounted adjacent to and exteriorly of said retractable track means and laterally centered in said reprofiling bench, roller means mounted on said receiving means in symmetrical spaced relationship to the vertical plane through the center of said receiving means, driving means operatively connected to said roller means, means for vertically moving said receiving means whereby said roller means will be brought into engagement with the tire portion of said wheels and through their rotational movement cause said wheel to rotate thereby driving said wheel into a position where a vertical plane passing through the center of the axle wheel unit will be strictly coincident with the vertical plane of symmetry of said receiving means.

2. A positioning device according to claim 1 wherein said moving means for said slide means comprise hydraulic means.

3. A device for positioning the axle-wheel units of a railway vehicle on a vertical plane through the center of a reprofiling bench comprising track means leading to said reprofiling bench, a termination point on said track means, retractable track means disposed adjacent to the termination point and in alignment therewith, said retractable track means having an extension for guiding said axle and a profile for both supporting and guiding said wheel, means to retract said retractable track means, receiving means mounted adjacent to said retractable track means and substantially laterally centered in said reprofiling bench, roller means mounted on said receiving means in symmetrical spaced relationship to a vertical plane through the center of said receiving means, driving means operatively connected to said roller means, means for vertically moving said receiving means whereby said rollcr means will be brought into engagement with said wheels and through their rotational movement cause said wheel to rotate thereby driving said wheel to a position wherein a vertical plane passing through the center of the axle-wheel unit will be strictly coincident with the vertical plane of symmetry of said receiving means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,605,591 8/1952 Hill 104-1 2,622,378 12/1952 Stanley et al 104l 2,622,374 12/1952 Stanley 104-1 2,605,591 8/1952 Hill l041 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

D. E. WORTH, Assistant Examiner.

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